Thermal activation of rupture and slow crack growth in a model of homogenous brittle materials

Stéphane Santucci (1) , Loïc Vanel (1) , Alessio Guarino (2) , Riccardo Scorretti (3) , Sergio Ciliberto (1)

1 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon
2 JETO - jeune équipe Terre Océan
3 CEGELY - Centre de génie électrique de Lyon

Slow crack growth in a model of homogenous brittle elastic material is described as a thermal activation process where stress fluctuations allow to overcome a breaking threshold through a series of irreversible steps. We study the case of a single crack in a flat sheet for which analytical predictions can be made, and compare them with results from the equivalent problem of a 2D spring network. Good statistical agreement is obtained for the crack growth profile and final rupture time. The specific scaling of the energy barrier with stress intensity factor appears as a consequence of irreversibility. In addition, the model brings out a characteristic growth length whose physical meaning could be tested experimentally.

Keywords: Brittle fracture; Delayed rupture; Crack growth; Thermal activation

Domains: Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]; Physics [physics]; Mechanics [physics]; Mechanics of materials [physics.class-ph]

Stéphane Santucci, Loïc Vanel, Alessio Guarino, Riccardo Scorretti, Sergio Ciliberto. Thermal activation of rupture and slow crack growth in a model of homogenous brittle materials. EPL - Europhysics Letters, 2003, 62 (3), pp.320. ⟨10.1209/epl/i2003-00398-1⟩. ⟨ensl-00156844⟩